The leaves are starting to fall, the nights are drawing in and it’s getting colder (not great when your central heating is broken like ours is!) – yes it’s officially autumn, my favourite season of them all! I just adore everything about autumn – the clothes, the warm drinks and the excuse to hygge away at home. But at the same time, as we rush towards the end of the year I’ve certainly noticed in my own life that it can be a busy and often overwhelming time as we squeeze as much into the remaining months before the New Year.

The energy of autumn however is more about culmination, balance and an invitation to turn inwards and to let go of what’s no longer serving you. I’ve personally struggled with balancing the fullness of the season with the actual energy of it – the want to show up for all the things but the need to replenish myself at the same time.

I thought it would be well worth adding to my seasonal self care ideas posts series (see the spring and summer guides here) with some ideas around self care at this often difficult to balance time of year.

If you’re not familiar with the basics of self care I encourage you to check out my post How to Practise Self Care Like a Boss, it’s the most viewed post on my site!

Before I get into the ideas, remember that you are your best guide, check out the end of this post to grab a copy of my free Ultimate Self Care Kit which will guide you towards your own personalised self care plan.

Here are your self care ideas for the autumn!

Get your Hygge on

If you missed this huge trend from last year, where were you hiding? Hygge is the Danish concept of wellbeing and cosiness – find out all about it here. I just LOVE Hygge as a way to conciously approach enjoyment in your life and really notice those little moments that are especially ‘Hygge’. For me Hygge is a beautiful form of self care because not only is it a way to remind myself to recharge through simple pleasures, but it’s also about having gratitude for them. There’s also something that feels especially good about making the house extra cosy with fairy lights and candles!

Journal on what needs to be let go of

This is a big one, and really this is the perfect time of year to ask yourself this question. What do you need to let go of in your life in order to move forward or make more space for what you want? That might be relationships that need to be ended, work projects that need to be finished off, physically decluttering items that you don’t want or need (skinny size 8 jeans I’ll never fit in again – I’m looking at you!), even habits that need to be discarded. A big one for me is letting go of beliefs or ways of thinking that don’t serve me. This can be a difficult process, but trust me, letting go and getting comfortable with that, is a gift to yourself.

Make the most of the autumn harvest with comfort food

One of the best things about this time of year has to be the food! Whether it’s apples, squash or pumpkin, the fruit and veggies around at this time of year are just begging to be made into a crumble a slow cooked stew or soup. For me, this is the best kind of nourishment, where I enjoy the process of making the food just as much as I do eating it. Planning your meals around plenty of seasonal fruit and vegetables is a good way to dial up the vitamins and minerals and give your body an extra dose of goodness.

Go on an autumn nature walk

The weather can be stunning at this time of year and before we dive into the cold dark depths of winter now is a great time to get your fill of connection with nature. A nature walk might involve going to a local park, woods or forest and collecting beautiful fallen leaves, pinecones and conkers. Another part of this might be enjoying a camp fire – I really find sitting around an open fire self care – not sure exactly why but it makes me feel very cosy and snuggly!

Write an energy leak list and fix a few of them

If you’re not familiar with energy leaks do check out this post for a fuller explanation, but briefly, an energy leak is just something that you keep thinking about that doesn’t get done. For example, mine are things like the windows needing to be cleaned, my inbox needing to be organised and our family dentist appointments needing to be scheduled. They’re those things that keep popping into your head but that you never seem to get done, or the irritating things you notice on a day to day basis that just don’t get sorted. Writing a list of those energy leaks and then crossing a few things off is a great form of organisation as self care – trust me you’ll feel better if you blast through a few of them!

Have a candle lit bath

Baths feel extra wonderful when it’s cold outside, so make a date with yourself and create a gorgeous Goddess bath – fill the tub with hot water, epsom salts, essential oils and maybe even add a crystal or two (my fave is a piece of rose quartz to promote self love) then sit back and relax with your favourite music and scented candles. Bonus points if it’s a daytime bath, they always feel more decadent don’t they?!

Take yourself out on a date

Think about how you’d spend your perfect day, or what your perfect date would be, and give it to yourself! There’s nothing wrong with showing yourself that level of love, believe me. Flowers, a coffee, a trip to the cinema – you can have all of those things just for you if you want. A lovely day for myself would be breakfast at a cafe, a look around the shops or a farmers market and then a film either at the cinema or at home in the afternoon – bliss!

Start having one day unplugged a week

Ok, so this is one that I’m really working on right now. As amazing as the internet and social media is, I really do think it’s healthy and helpful to unplug every so often. Why not talk with your family and agree to have one day a week when you put down your phones? You’ll be more present with each other, less stressed and maybe more likely to do something you’ll actually really love like reading a book.

All of these ideas are a great way to incorporate more self care into your life this autumn, but maybe you’re reading all of these and don’t really know where to start? If that sounds like you you’ll love my new Ultimate Self Care Kit. It’s a free 12 page guide to figuring out your own self care needs, grab it here:How will you be practising self care this autumn?